These 7 Buddhist Teachings Are Hard to Understand but They’ll Benefit You Forever When You Do

What’s the secret to feeling calm and focused?

It’s not an easy question to answer.

So, why do Buddhist monks appear peaceful and present all the time?

How do they do it? Do they know some hidden secret that you don’t?

Actually, yes they do!

For thousands of years, Buddhist philosophy has focused solely on how to reduce human suffering and keep the mind focused on the present moment.

And today, we’re going to go through Buddhism’s most important principles and habits that we can all adopt in our daily lives.

1. Practice Being Curious

One of the essential achieving peace and contentment is the “beginner’s mind”.

This means engaging in something as if for the very first time. Buddhists are trained to bring this attitude with them throughout the day. Even when taking a shower, you can imagine it’s the first time you’ve felt the water hit you, or watch as though for the first time you’re seeing water fall down the drain.

The reason this helps is that new experiences stimulates the brain and encourages new neural connections.

Even having a meal is an opportunity to stop and reflect on the incredible power of food to bring energy to your body. You can also think about all of the people around the world who have helped to bring the food to your table. This way a simple meal becomes a source of gratitude and an opportunity to recognize the interconnection of everything.

As Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Life is routine and routine is resistance to wonder.”

2. Forgive Themselves

Life comes with its obstacles, and it’s no different for Buddhists.

There will always be times when you’re too tired to work, too busy to relax or you’re just feeling too restless to experience contentment.

The key point is to understand that these are not signs of failing to experience a life of peace and contentment. It happens to everyone. What matters is seeing these moments as opportunities for learning more about the hindrances in life and how to either embrace their lessons, or design a life where they don’t happen as much.

Whenever you feel stressed, practice the mantra of “forgive and invite”. Continue to invite the obstacle into your life to keep on teaching you the lesson, and forgive yourself for your reaction.

Practicing “forgive and invite” over and over again in life becomes an incredible strong vehicle for growth.

3. Hold their emotions lightly

Buddhist philosophy tells us that emotions are “energy in motion”. Emotions always come and go, so it’s important not to get too wrapped up in them.

When comfortable emotions are present it’s also a good time to not hold onto them too tightly.

With experience, you can be like the Buddhists and be grateful for the good moments when they come without being too attached to them, while knowing that the difficult times will pass quickly.

4. Practice compassion

Compassion is seen as noticing suffering with the desire to help in some way.

One practice that helps create inner peace and contentment is to pay attention to yourself with a curious and caring attention. This sends the implicit message to your brain that you’re worth caring about.

As you pay attention to yourself with compassion, you’ll find that difficult emotions are easier to deal with.

Difficult emotions will become the guide to where you need to go through a healing process, and you’ll have the tools at your disposal to deal with them.

5. Make peace with imperfection

All of us are aware of our own imperfections, and this usually causes a lot of self-judgment.

Our aim is not to employ Buddhist practices so that we start seeing ourselves as perfect, but rather to see that our imperfections is what makes us human.

It’s human to be imperfect, and recognizing this unites us in the common humanity of all people.

As Zen priest Dogen Zenji said, “To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is to not have anxiety over our imperfections.”

6. Embrace vulnerability

We naturally want to guard ourselves against our vulnerability. Yet someone who embraces Buddhist philosophy ends up seeing that vulnerability is where the gold is.

When we embrace our vulnerability, we develop courage, trust and connection.

It doesn’t mean we need to be vulnerable all the time, but with discernment we can open up and build better relationships and learn to really trust ourselves.

7. Understand that all things come and go

Probably the most important insight coming from Buddhist philosophy is that nothing is permanent. When you close your eyes and listen to the sounds, you’ll notice that nothing remains fixed. Everything happens in ebbs and flows.

It’s the same with how nature looks. It all changes based on the seasons.

The same with food. You’ll taste it in your mouth, and then it will be transformed into your body to provide you with energy.

We’re born of this earth, we grow up and we eventually pass away.

As we live a life of peace and contentment, we start to understand how precious life is and open ourselves up to many beautiful moments all around us.

Catagory

Search the Site

Disclaimer

All content on this website is for informational purposes only and should not be considered to be a specific diagnosis or treatment plan for any individual situation. Use of this website and the information contained herein does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Always consult with your own doctor in connection with any questions or issues you may have regarding your own health or the health of others. We are not responsible for the content of other websites. We may have used it only for information purpose. All the pictures and information shown on e-buddhism.com are the property of their respective owners. We don't hold copyright about these pictures and content. We are not responsible for any incorrect or incomplete information. These pictures have been collected from different public sources including different websites, blogs considering to be in public domain. If any one has any objection to displaying of any picture and news, it may be brought to our notice by sending an email and the same will be removed immediately after verification of the claim. Contact us at: awakeningpathnet@gmail.com